Writing a Diary 27 (Q & N re current activities)

Questioning current activities

For “you are” (familiar) you can use

<thesta> [1]  or  <thesta che>  or < thesta jy>

For “you are” (formal or plural) you can use

<therow(gh)> [2]  or  <thera whei>

The <th> stops the verb from being a question, so to form a question simply knock off the <th>.

SWFLt “are you” can be

(familiar) <esta> [3]  or  <esta che>  or < esta jy>

or (formal or plural) <erow(gh)> [4]  or  <era whei>.

And don’t forget that in Late Cornish you may leave out the verbal particle <o>. (Since the verb ends in a vowel, you may find that leaving out  the <o> makes rapid speech smoother.)

Here are some examples:

esta (o) moas?	are you going?
esta (o) moas mes?	are you going out?
era whei (o) moas ales?	are you going abroad?
era whei (o) moas kerr?	are you going away?
esta (o) toas?	are you coming?
era whei (o) toas tre?	are you coming home?
esta jy (o) toas dres mor?	are you coming overseas?
era whei (o) toas e’n chei?	are you coming in the house?

If you want to give a negative reply, lose the initial <th> from the positive statement and use the negative particle <nag> [5]:

nag era vy (o) moas mes	I am not going out
nag era vy (o) moas tre	I am not going home
nag era vy (o) toas	I am not coming
nag eram (o) toas genes	I am not coming with you

For a less specific question you can use

<pe le> for where or

<pandra> or <peth> for “what”

(notice the hard mutation of <gül> do, caused by the verbal particle <o>):

Pandr’era whei (o) cül?	What are you doing?
Peth esta (o) cül?	What are you doing?
Pe le era whei (o) moas?	Where are you going?

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[1] SWFM <yth esos ta>

[2] SWFM <yth esowgh hwi>

[3] SWFM <esos ta>

[4] SWFM <esowgh hwi>

[5] SWFM <nyns>